Pressure Point
by BlazingLegend
Summary: Sophie wasn't good at being rejected. Let alone numerous times. And she wasn't one to eat ice cream and angst about it, either. She has her eye on Rikki Chadwick, and ruining everything that makes life nice for her. Not to mention Zane Bennett, the man who thinks he can get away with it. And those Mako crystals. She'd heeded her brother's pleas long enough. They would be hers.
1. Chapter 1

New story time! Don't yell at me, alright? You probably don't know why you're yelling at me, and those that do... just don't! Yeah, I have the attention span of a two-year-old.

Ooh, what's that? SHINY! Kidding. But... anyway... I don't really have anything to say. Criticism welcome, but please, no flames!

Enjoy!

* * *

He was wiping down tables. His muscles flexing in that circular motion was enough to lull her senses, like the sway of a mothers' hold as she sings her child to sleep.

She ran her fingers over the hem of her shirt, picking out the threads and trying to summon the courage to speak to him.

But all too soon his head snapped up and his eyes were scanning the gloom, and she had nothing to say. He frowned in her direction.

"I can see you," he straightened, a sigh crossing his lips. "Stop hiding."

A flush rose to her cheeks and she stepped out of the shadows, her red hair shining in the artificial light. "Hi."

He rolled his eyes. "Hi," he said, copying her high tone. "What do you want?"

"I wanted—" she stopped, smoothing her shirt and patting down any astray hairs on her head. "—to talk."

He laughed. It was a bitter sound. "That's not happening. Goodbye." He turned back to his office, where the faint glow of the television crept out into the foyer.

"Zane, wait," when he didn't turn, she jogged after him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Could you please wait a second?"

He swivelled at her touch, his lips pulled into a snarl. "I can ban you, you know," he said, pushing her away. It was a gentle touch, but it sliced her heart deeper than any blade could. "There are laws that say I can do that."

She shook her head, trying to clear the fog his words cast on her. "I just want to talk,"

"Well I don't."

"I—"

"Get this into your head. You ruined the only thing good in my life," he stopped, his lips twisting into a humourless smile. "Hell, _the _love of my life. What do you think that sign says out there? Not my name. Not _your _name. _Her _name. And that'll never change," he pushed her in the chest. "Now get out of this cafe, or I'm getting a restraining order."

"All I wanted—"

"And why would you think that want is reciprocated?"

She stumbled back, though he hadn't struck her. Tears stung her eyes and swelled in her throat. She swiped her face with her sleeve. "Zane," she said, her voice swallowed by a sob. "Don't say that."

He looked her up and down. "It's true, Sophie. I won't ever want you. That owner of that name plastered in big shiny lights—" he smiled. A real smile. "She's the only one I'll ever want."

"No!" She sounded so desperate, so pleading. Everything she strived not to be. "But—but—what does she have that I don't?"

He walked up to her, towering at least a foot above her. "You'll never know."

His words threw themselves at her heart, thrashing and battering at it, crushing and stomping on the long dead pieces.

"Zane—"

He turned her around and guided her to the entrance. "Get out, Sophie. Don't come back."

Until this point only hurt had whirled in her heart, but now it was swept away by rage, as familiar and welcomed as the caress of a parent.

She swirled around. "You do this to me, Zane, and you'll regret it."

He eyed her, one corner of his mouth pulling tight. "Hmm. You're gonna put a spell on me, right?"

He was making fun of her. Well, she'd be the one laughing as she made his life a living hell.

As he shoved her out, all she could think was: _You'll get yours, Zane Bennett._

She turned back to see him standing at the doorway, watching her with raised eyebrows. He waved her forward.

_You'll get yours._

* * *

Reviews would be nice. Kisses! xx


	2. Chapter 2

I wasn't going to update, but my wonderful, brilliant, absolutely _hilarious _penpal When The Tide Comes In has been seriously helping me out with some stories, and I felt obliged to at least _publish._

Oh, and what do you guys think about the new summary? The last one really sucked. Do you think it's better? Do you? Well do you?!

And... yeah... things may be slowmoving now (for cryin' out loud, it's only chap two! Cut me some slack!) but things'll—probably—pick up pace (sometime) soon.

* * *

Will blinked at her with confused, uncomprehending eyes.

"What?" she said, snarling. "_What_, goddammit?"

"Soph..." he said. His nose scrunched and he got out a string of cryptic half-words, all the while rubbing his neck so hard she expected a layer of skin to peel off. "Are you alright?"

"Of course," she said with an eye roll. "Because everything is always puppies and Disney princesses with you, isn't it?"

His cheeks sucked in, like his tongue had been replaced with lemon rind. "Disney princesses...?" he stopped, his face going blank for a few seconds. Then he frowned. "Alright, you need some coffee,"

He pivoted, dashing out of the room like it was on fire. He came back after a few minutes, clasping a mug filled with dark brown liquid, a curtain of steam steadily rising off the top.

She snatched it off him and took a gulp. His eyes widened. "Careful Soph, it's kind of hot—"

She barely grimaced—_barely—_as the molten ripped down her throat and her lips turned from a normal, human hue of soft pink into something more akin to a flaming cherry.

He grimaced for her. "Oh, jeez, are you _alright?_" he said, eyes crinkled and mouth taut with imagined pain.

"Fine," she said, with more acid than was needed with her baby brother—but dammit, it _hurt. _"Now leave your sister alone to get her beauty sleep."

What the _hell _was she thinking?

He jerked back a little, his oval face practically folding in two now as he frowned. "Beauty sleep? Since when have you ever wanted beauty sleep?"

Clutching the radioactive mug tightly—because it was the only alternative to throwing it at the wall—she sighed, licked her lips, sighed again. "What do you _want, _Will?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay."

She arched a thin eyebrow. "Seriously, Will? What a stupid thing to say. Of course I'm okay. I'm always _okay,_" Hell, she was the big sister. She wasn't going to run to him for advice. "Now get out, alright? Go train. Lift weights. Something actually _constructive. _Thanks for the coffee, now scoot!"

She used her free hand to swat him away, and he nodded and scampered out accordingly.

She placed the mug of coffee on her dresser and turned her gaze to the window. She heard the front door close—quietly, deliberately, like he thought it was made of china. He was always like that. Looking at things like they might break.

But she didn't have time to worry over her brother and his personality traits. Daylight was burning.

She jumped off her bed and sat down at her computer, jabbing the on button and waiting for the lazy thing to come to life. She yawned, tapping the _r _key in the hopes her impatience would jolt it into consciousness. She ran a hand through her hair—sticking up and pointier than usual—and rubbed at her face.

She'd been up all night trying to figure out how to get back at Zane. She'd eventually figured that maybe she could dig up some dirt on him—she could just imagine him looting or shoplifting or doing some stupid, impulsive thing bound to be crossing the lines of legality...

But she'd found nothing.

Well, more to the point, she had found _something, _but it was just that everything she knew, everybody else knew too. It was common knowledge Zane Bennett had been a womanizer in his younger years and had left a string of broken hearts in his wake. It was common knowledge he and his best friend, Nate, liked to party late into the night. It was common knowledge that after he'd found Rikki, he'd stopped womanizing, stopped partying, and devoted his time to her and being a reformed, _good _person.

Oh, how she'd like to punch him right in his _good _little face.

XXX

Her sneakers' somber plod across the dock conveyed well how she was feeling.

She looked at the water, letting the bright haze of the sun on the ocean blind her for a few seconds. She raised her fist to Will's front door and rapped three solid times.

"Who...?" Will's face went from happy, to dejected, and finally went blank as he saw her. All in the space of a second. "Oh, hello, Sophie. What do you need?"

He didn't ask her to come in. He usually asked her to come in. Something was up. "Oh, hi, Will. Can I come inside?" She leant to peek over his shoulder and glare at the dust motes sparkling in the filtering light.

"Well, uh, sure," he said, and just hung there for a few seconds, arms swinging by his sides.

"Well _can _I?"

"It's because I'm here," a clear—feminine—voice rung from inside. Bella was soon bustling past Will's shoulder, stringing her bag on her arm, her head ducked down. "I'll leave you alone..." she muttered as she walked away, golden hair blending with the light.

"No, Bella, wait!" Will called after her, but her footfalls had long since dashed up the pier and around the corner. He sighed as he realised, his shoulders slumping as he sidestepped to let her in.

She sat herself down on the couch and he leant against the table, fiddling with one of his ancient shells. After a steady silence, he set it down, looking straight at her. "So. What are you here for?"

She shrugged. "I'm here to help you train."

He let out an angry sigh and circled the table. He rubbed at his forehead. He glared at her. "Sophie. You _know _I don't compete anymore."

"Well you should."

"Well I don't."

They stared at each other for a few long moments, cold and hard. Stalemated.

Until he strode up to the door, purpose echoing off every step, and flung open the door. "I'd like you to leave now."

She shot up, flinging her arms around. "You're kicking me out?"

He cringed, but stood firm. "Yes. Get out," when she looked at him for a while longer, he said, "I'm sick of this, Sophie. I've made my decision about diving. So either you stop talking about it, or... or... or I don't want you around here anymore."

She sniffed, but not with tears, with indignation. Then she walked out of the door, her stride meaningful. Strong.

Then she heard the door close and took off running.

XXX

She'd walked around for a while. She didn't really know how, but she ended up in front of the café, staring up at it, feeling stupid and pitiful and then hating herself for feeling stupid and pitiful.

Zane's words from last night echoed around in her brain. Over and over, until they were tumbling over each other, just a white noise of resentment and hatred.

_"Get this into your head. You ruined the only thing good in my life."_

_"Hell, _the_ love of my life."_

_"What do you think that sign says out there? Not _your _name. _Her_ name."_

_"And that'll never change."_

She glared into the neon, swirling letters hammered on the overhang of the building.

Maybe she would just have to hit him where his heart lay.

* * *

If I get ten reviews I'll update. Just so I know all my fretting and fussing is actually going somewhere! That and I have time to write the next chap... and, also, I sort of wrote this in a day (well, _technically _it's sixteen minutes past twelve,) it isn't really edited (just spellchecked,) so it may very well suck. Sorry if it does.

So, whaddya guys think about chucking some subplots in? You know, just to spice things up...


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